Infosys, sued for US hiring bias, denies charge

IT major Infosys has dismissed allegations that it turned down an American applicant because of her nationality — that she is not South Asian.

Brenda Koehler filed a class action suit in a US court on August 1 saying she had applied for the position of lead IT administrator in April 2012, which went to a person of Bangladeshi origin.

She alleged the company, which has a substantial presence in the US, discriminates against non-South Asians.

“Infosys is an equal opportunity employer. We categorically deny Ms. Koehler’s claims,” the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “We look forward to addressing this matter in court, not in public venues where facts can become mixed with rumour, opinion and speculation.”

The perception here is that Infosys and other major Indian IT firms such as TCS and Wipro prefer cheaper workers brought from India on H-1B visas.The companies, however, claim the share of local hires has been increasing steadily but have refused to share supporting data.

An immigration reforms Bill passed recently by the Senate targets them seeking to significantly curb their ability to continue hiring H-1B workers.